How are we going to get out of this? We have an army of undead all around and god knows where we are! I know that there is little to no chance of us surviving, even if we make it through this challenge, there will just be another waiting for us. And while the enemy grows with each fallen survivor our numbers only grow smaller, and our resources dwindle more and more. What’s the point in fighting, if there’s no hope of victory?

Pages

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Things began moving pretty fast after Connor showed us his
gun supply, it gave everyone a new sense of purpose and hope. Brooke and Daniel
worked with Connor to record how many weapons we had, both melee and ranged.
Most of the weapons there were handguns, the military having taken any larger
ordinance but guns were guns and they were a happy addition. Only Nicole and
Will seemed put off by this, worried that a sudden increase in the availability
of guns would cause more harm than good. I walked over to them as Connor was in
the middle of trying to quell their worries. ‘Look,’ Connor began, ‘in any
other situation I would be agreeing with you: militarization of an untrained
group can only lead to chaos, but this isn't any situation, we need to be able
to protect ourselves’

‘I agree,’ Will replied, ‘it just worries me that’s all,’ he
sighed, ‘maybe it’s just me trying to hold on to our innocence, there’s still a
part of me that says “isn't there someone else who can do this?”’

‘I know what you mean,’ I told him, trying to sound
reassuring and confident, ‘but we have to arm ourselves otherwise we will be
helpless against the dead or any other force-like those marauders-that are more
heavily armed than us.’

Will and Nicole agreed eventually, but they didn't seem happy
about it and Nicole refused to carry a gun. I was fine with that though, I was
more than happy to have an excuse to keep her away from front-line danger. I
would have been even happier if Wendy was the same but she was dead set on
getting a gun and learning how to use it. It’s not surprising when I think
about what she’s been through: getting attacked by that zombie at our place,
coming to the hospital, losing Caleb. Wendy had to toughen up, Nicole had to
but her moral code was apparently stricter than Wendy’s, but maybe more
dangerous.

Connor showed us around the station and one thing that did
interest me was a generator, powerful enough to power the lights among other
things. The ability to refrigerate our food stores was an exciting prospect.
Connor didn't know how it worked though, but Daniel said he might know, after a
while of fiddle with it he stood up and turned to us saying, ‘it works, but
there’s no fuel, it was probably thought that when it would need to be used
they could use some from the cars’

‘We don’t have enough to spread it out,’ I said, ‘in fact I was
starting to think we should ditch one of the cars to save fuel’

‘Is there anywhere we could get some more?’ Brooke asked.
Connor thought for a moment before turning, walking into one of the offices and
pulling out a map. ‘In a case we were working on recently we investigated a
warehouse near here,’ he explained, ‘it supplies some local automotive stores,
among other places, maybe we can find some fuel there’

We decided it would be best if we left quickly, the sooner we
leave the less chance there is of some other group raiding the warehouse.
Brooke, Will, Connor, Steven, Daniel and I were going to take the Ute, now empty,
and Connor’s car. Steven and Daniel were the only ones without gun experience
apart from the little bits Brooke had taught Daniel so Connor gave them a crash
course. I hadn't had much chance to speak to Steven since we arrived at the
station, I decided if I was going to be the de facto leader of this team I should
try to get to know him better.

On the way to the warehouse it was Will, Connor and Daniel in
the small car and me and Steven in the Ute with Brooke riding in the back. ‘So,’
I began, trying to start a conversation, ‘how long have you known Will?’ seemed
like a good place to start

‘A few years now,’ he replied stoically, ‘you?’

‘I know him from high school, actually I think we've met a
few times’

‘Yeah maybe.’ There were some long moments of silence after
that, there wasn't much else to say, it seems inappropriate to ask about
trivialities like TV and video games now that the world has ended. Or at least
the world as we know it. I figured I’d had to leave it at that, Will seems to
trust him at least and I he’s judgment hasn't been wrong yet. We spent the rest
of the ride in silence.

After a while of driving we came to a stop, we had made it to
the ware house. It was deadly quiet, but there were no signs of the dead or the
living. There were, however, several trucks outside that looked familiar but
with our confidence bolstered by our new arsenal we kept moving, entering the
warehouse. The all-to-familiar smell of dead flesh greeted us as soon as we
entered and we saw a corpse on the floor, reaching for the exit, it looked like
it was one of the ware house workers, except his head had been blown apart. ‘Someone’s
already been here,’ I said

‘Ya think?’ Connor replied. Hesitantly Will crouched down near
the body, his arm wrapped around his mouth and nose against the stench. He
stood up again, quickly moving away ‘that body has been there for a while, ‘he
said, ‘the blood on the floor has dried’

‘But…’ Brooke began, looking at the warehouse, ‘if they've been
here why is all this stuff still here? Wouldn't they have taken it all’

‘Maybe they didn't need it?’ Daniel suggested

‘No,’ Connor shook his head, ‘what’s more likely is that they
came here, found that,’ he nodded towards the corpse, ‘and probably more and
fled before they could empty it out’

‘Over here,’ Will called out from further into the warehouse.
He ran off in the direction of his voice, leaving Daniel there to guard our
exit. When I saw what he had found my stomach almost seized and I was lucky I didn't throw up, in front of us were three corpses of the marauders.

Saturday, October 19, 2013

This is a story about 11 people who put their lives in my
hands, and I’m still not sure whether they made the right choice. My name is
Todd Hendrikson and 2 weeks ago the world we knew was destroyed. A virus was
released through, we think, a flu vaccine, but whether it was intentional or
accidental we don’t know. Panic quickly set in and our world was thrown into
chaos, me and my girlfriend Wendy Simmons would have been swept up in the panic
too if it hadn't been for our friend Will Sandren. Somehow he managed to keep
his head and convince me and several others that our best chance at surviving
was to remain in a small group of people that we trust and go from there.
Eventually there were ten of us, some of us knew each other from before, others
we had met and had come to trust. But when Simon was injured and became infected
we were forced to head to the hospital, an area infested with the dead, to find
medicine for him. While we were there we suffered our first casualty. Caleb
Atkins, a man Will had saved early on was killed helping Will escape. But there
was no time to grieve, a new friend has arrived, Connor State, a police officer
who has been surviving in the police station with two others we have yet to
meet. After much discussion we decided to leave the clinic we were staying in
and go to the police station with Connor, and that’s where my story begins.

We were ready to leave, Nicole had insisted that we took a gurney
and load it into the back of the Ute, in case someone was injured and needed to
be moved quickly. Simon’s infection was almost completely gone and he was able
and willing to ride in the people carrier along with Monica, Daniel and Daphne.
Paige and Brooke were in the Ute, the back now full of supplies, while Wendy,
Will, Connor and I were in Connor’s small car. ‘Are you sure this car is
appropriate for this situation?’ Will asked Connor

‘Yes,’ he assured us for the thirteenth time, ‘This car is
faster than you’d think and reliable, it’s the car I used before all this
insanity started so I know all its ins and outs.’ As the got in and the cars
began to leave I considered the team’s newest addition. Connor seemed like he
would be useful, he was intelligent, quick-thinking and he knew how to use a
gun. But more importantly like the rest of us he seemed loyal, I think if one
of us were in danger he’d act just like we’d been friends his whole life, which
was the reason we had stayed together this long. In a world like this you
needed people you could rely on to risk their life for the good of the team.
All for one and one for all isn't it?

Connor had managed to recall the route he took to reach the
clinic and luckily it was through the small roads, they should encounter little
trouble on the way there. I began to wonder about how suitable the police
station would be for a permanent base. It may be defensible but there are other
concerns now. With power going out food would become an issue, as would heat.
And petrol would be needed to keep their vehicles going. I was broken out of my
contemplation by Will asking Connor another question, ‘so who are these people
at the station?’

‘You know them?’ I asked, it seemed impossible that the two
people we were going to meet could be friends of Will, it’s too big of a
coincidence

‘They didn't say their last names,’ Connor said

‘Their friends from university,’ Will explained, ‘if it is
them it’ll be a weight off my shoulders.’

The trip progressed without incident from that point on,
apart from a few sightings of solo zombies and a few times where we had to slow
down and carefully manoeuvre the cars around a block in the road. But
eventually the police station appeared ahead. There was a giant blood stain in
front of the station and I remembered Connors story about how the army opened
fire on a mass of people before they drove away, taking the rest of the police
force with them. ‘What did you do with the bodies?’ I asked, hardly wanting to
know the answer

‘The last thing the army did before they left was take them all
away from the station and burn them,’ Connor didn’t look at us, just stared at
the road ahead, ‘they didn't want the smell attracting more of the dead.’
Images in our heads of what Connor described and what we had already seen ran
through our heads and made us silent.

We finally pulled up outside the police station, and when we
did two people came out to see us. One was a man slightly taller and older than
me and the other was a woman shorter but the same age. Apparently they were
Will’s friends because he quickly left the car even before it had parked and
ran over to greet them, giving the girl, Andria, a big hug. I remembered all
the friends I was still left to hear from, I hoped they had made it onto the
army trucks or into a group similar to ours, I hoped they hadn't been burned or
worse turned into one of the dead masses.

We went inside and I began to believe Connor’s stories about
how defensible the station was. The two glass sliding doors at the front had
been blocked, I assumed by Connor and the others, leaving the only entrance a
small steel door with bars on the windows. There was another exit out the back
that could be used in emergencies but also within the station there was a large
amount of doors and corridors that could be used to stop zombies for a moment
while we made our escape. There was a glass sunroof that was shattered but
Steven insisted that there was no way a deadman could scale the walls and that
they shattered the window on purpose to let smoke escape from the fire they
made each night on the floor below. I guessed heat had become an issue here
too.

‘Well I think we've made the right choice coming here,’ I said
to Connor, Nicole and Brooke

‘I hope so,’ Brooke replied, ‘after all the time we spent
getting the clinic ready for anything I’d hate to think we left for no reason’

‘I think I got a good reason for you,’ Connor said slyly,
leading us away. Eventually we came to a small room blocked by another large
steel door which Connor had to unlock before he handed me a spare key and
walked inside. I knew we made a right choice, the clinic held nothing for us
now except space whereas the station gave us something we desperately needed. A
room full of guns.

Friday, October 18, 2013

‘Sorry that was my fault,’ he said, I turned around quickly,
startled to hear an unfamiliar voice. He looked older than me, and his size was
slightly intimidating but his smile, Nicole’s reaction, and the fact that he
was wearing a police badge made me trust just a little bit more. ‘Just a little
misunderstanding,’ Nicole assured, ‘Will, Todd, this is Connor’

‘Hi,’ he waved, ‘yeah when I first came here I was looking
for survivors, but all they saw was my gun and assumed I was here to rob them.’

‘We've had some bad experiences,’ I said, still slightly
untrusting

‘So I've heard, when I came in a saw this one,’ Connor
gestured to Daniel, ‘reaching for a gun on the floor and I reacted a bit
harshly’

‘But no one was hurt so no harm done,’ Nicole said, but she
sounded like she was trying to convince him not me. Connor looked at her embarrassed
‘I haven’t been a policeman for long,’ he explained, ‘I don’t think my
instincts are up to scratch’

‘Lucky for me neither is your aim,’ Daniel joked, but with a
solemn expression. We all smiled slightly but I dreaded what was coming ‘Nicole,
we need to talk.’

…

A few hours later everyone had been caught up. Connor and
Todd were discussing weapons, Connor had brought with him two more hand guns
and a helpful amount of ammo. We decided the spare gun would go to Monica, who
Todd had already been teaching to shoot. Nicole had to overcome the shock of
Caleb’s death quickly because Simon’s fever had worsened and Daphne began
screaming until Nicole took the medicine to him and got to work, now he was
beginning to feel better and Nicole felt confident that he would recover.
Nicole, Brooke and I had sorted out what we had gathered from the hospital and
put it into bags.

It was becoming dark when Todd and Connor, who had been
talking for a while, approached Brooke, Nicole and me. ‘We've been talking,’
Connor began, ‘I don’t think this place is very safe… for any of us’

‘I told about those raiders,’ Todd added

‘Yes and its more than likely that there will be more like
them and you may not get off as easy as you did last time’

‘I agree,’ I said, ‘I mean it’s not like we decided to stay
here forever, we only came here to get medicine for Simon and now we have that’

‘I would wait a few days before we start moving,’ Nicole
interjected, ‘Simon’s wounds might be healing well but who knows what’s going
to happen with this infection, and we all know how dangerous it can be on the
road’

‘And you think it’s safer here?’ Todd asked

‘We've been fine ever since you left, who says we won’t be
safe here?’ Brooke added

‘I do,’ Todd replied, ‘right now the dead are scattered,
there feeding on the families still in their homes and the people who don’t
have the defenses or the sense we do, but eventually their food source is going
to run out and their going to come looking for fresher meat.’ Nicole cringed at
the last comment, I think the fear of what comes next was starting to set in.

When we were moving towards and through the hospital we had
drive, purpose. Now everything has stopped moving, now we needed to find
safety, and a steady source of food and water. We had regained some stability
by regrouping and bringing the medicine, but now we needed to look further into
the future and think about what we should do next. We don’t know that the
clinic offers the best chance at giving us that stability ‘what do you suggest,’
I asked Connor, I had to know what he had in mind

‘Before I came here I was staying in the police station a
little while from here,’ he replied to the group, but Brooke shook her head in
protest

‘We can’t do that,’ she said incredulously, ‘police stations
are where all those panicked people were running to, half of them were bitten, or
vaccinated that place is probably overrun by now’

‘No,’ Connor replied quickly, ‘yes those people gathered at
the police station, and yes some of them were infected, but then the army came’

‘The army?’ several of us said at once

‘They took control of the situation,’ Connor explained, ‘They
took away most of the people, checking to see if they were infected first, if
they were then-then they were killed,’ Connor stared at the floor as he
finished. I put my hand on his shoulder and after a while he continued, ‘eventually
the crowd began to riot over fear of attack and anger over seeing the infected
being killed,’ he paused again and closed his eyes, ‘so the army killed them
all and drove off.’

I was horrified at what I had heard, I could hardly imagine
so many people dying at one point, although even more horrifying was the part
of me that said that it was a smart decision and the right thing to do. I felt
sorry for Connor, he seemed like a good man, the fact that he was hurt by what
had happened was a testament to that. ‘How many people are left at the police
station?’ Todd asked after giving Connor a moment to regain his composure

‘After the army left, just me,’ Connor replied, ‘most of the
others left with the army but,’ Connor paused, shaking his head, ‘I wasn't going to go with them’

‘You stayed behind on your own?’ Nicole asked, amazed that he
had the courage to do that

‘I wasn't alone for long,’ Connor smiled, ‘a little while
after the army trucks left two civilians showed up, they had hidden from some
of the dead and that had delayed them enough so they missed the trucks, I wonder
if that saved their lives. Their still at the station in case others turn up.’

After a while of considering it I spoke first, ‘I think we
should go, the more people we have, up to a certain point, the more chance we
have of surviving. And a police station is probably more defensible than a
clinic’

‘I've always agreed with Connor,’ Todd said, ‘this place was
never intended to be permanent, just while Simon was injured’

‘It’s probably for the best,’ Nicole relented, ‘but I’m going
to make sure Simon’s okay before we go and I’m going to take some of the
equipment with me.’ Brooke just shrugged after Nicole’s statement, after this time
without Todd and Will she had learned to trust Nicole’s judgment.

Daniel had no protests, and Daphne agreed after Nicole
reassured her Simon would be okay to be moved. So it was decided that we would
leave the clinic and head towards the police station, Todd pulled out a map and
found the perfect route that would avoid most dangerous areas. I felt more
confident now, we had some of that drive back, and we had become a team now,
not just a group of people hiding from the dead, but a team hell bent on surviving
this apocalypse, but it was long from over.

I knew I had to do it, the dead were closing in fast, they
were almost on the same level as me and I didn't have much time. I tried to
stop thinking about it and my fear of being torn apart by the dead overcame my
fear of ending up splattered on the pavement. I jumped. I don’t remember the
feeling of falling, when I remember I realize I was overestimating the
distance, I wasn't falling for long. My memory starts again when I landed on
the mattress, thankfully it was big enough that I didn't hit the sides of the
Ute. Or Todd. Pain shot through my left leg however, although the adrenaline
dealt with it and it didn't seem too bad I knew I would be in pain for a while.

‘Where’s Caleb?’ Todd asked, but we didn't have any time to
lose and I didn’t have the courage to tell him yet

‘Just drive!’ I screamed back, scrambling to find a secure
place on the back of the Ute. Todd hit the top of the Ute, yelling at Wendy to
drive. We accelerated quickly, and Todd almost fell off as he sat down. The
dead had reached the end of the fire escape and a few had fallen off in the
crush but the now reached for us helplessly, their legs broken. The rest
stopped and after a moment their growls and groans had died down, and they
began to shuffle back up the stairs. We drove off at an increasing pace leaving
behind the dead, my mother, the bike, and Caleb’s body, or what was left of it.

…

Eventually, when the hospital was out of sight, Todd signaled for them to pull over. We were on a small road with lots of houses, but there
were little signs of blood, struggle, or traffic so we assumed it would be safe
for a moment. Wendy was the first to speak, jumping out of the driver’s seat, ‘what
happened in there Will? Where’s Caleb?’ Monica had also left the Ute with a
much simpler easy to answer question: ‘were you bitten?’

‘No,’ I replied looking at Monica, but when I turned to
answer Wendy’s question I found I couldn't speak, and for the first time since
my father died I began to cry. I hugged Wendy, but in her realization of what
had happened she didn’t even acknowledge it. Todd too was shocked, and grabbed
the side of the Ute for support. Monica looked down and took a deep breath, but
as ever her expression remained unchanged.

After a moment I regained my composure, as did the others and
Wendy began to return the hug. I pulled back, drying my eyes ‘I’m sorry,’ I said,
trying to think about the matter at hand, ‘we need to get back to the others as
soon as possible.’ I began to pull the mattress out of the back, but Wendy
shook her head and stopped me, ‘no, Will, you have to tell us what happened in
there, how’-she paused for a second and swallowed-‘how did Caleb die?’

‘Isn't it obvious?’ I replied, almost bitterly, ‘he chased
after me, the dead chased after him… and they caught us’

‘How can you be so cold?’ Wendy yelled hysterically

‘Because I have to be,’ I seethed back

‘Everyone just calm down,’ Todd stepped between us. I
breathed deeply for a few moments, trying to suppress the rage and guilt, but
most of all grief inside me ‘we have to keep going,’ I said finally struggling
to stopped myself from yelled or breaking down in tears, ‘none of us are naive enough
to think that Caleb will be our last casualty, all we can do is keep moving and
right now Simon need this medicine, and who knows what’s happened while we've been gone, we can’t afford to grieve… not yet.’ I pulled the mattress out and
got into the passenger seat of the Ute, Monica soon following me and getting in
the driver’s seat while Wendy and Todd absorbed what I said and what had
happened in silence.

…

We managed to reach the clinic with little trouble, Todd’s
distraction mission had served as a scouting mission too and he had found a
route that while it took us through a field avoided main roads and dangerous
areas. As we drove closer I noticed two things: the fortifications had been
improved, there were no gaps in the windows and a car had been moved to
partially block to entrance. The second thing I noticed is that there was a new
car parked outside, an old small car. I wondered whether the others had gone
looking for new vehicles but I doubted it, even if they had they wouldn't have
taken an old car like that. I didn't voice my concerns though, the atmosphere
was too tense to add more fear and anxiety. We needed good news, hopefully
Nicole would come with some.

We drove in slowly, flashing our lights to signal them that
it was us, but with all the visual blocks I wondered whether they would see it.
My concerns were answered when Daniel open the front door, flashing his torch
to signal that they weren't being invaded or attacked, I wondered now whether
we over thought the whole signal thing. As we pulled I convinced Monica to park
where it would make it impossible for the new car to leave, if there was
something wrong, I wanted to do everything to make sure we’d be safe. Wendy and
Todd got off the back, each carrying one of the bags full of the medicine. I
couldn't help feeling like we’d traded Caleb’s life for that. I hope it was
worth it.

When we reached the door Daniel looked at us, realizing who
was missing he silently looked down and then opened the door to let us through.
Nicole was waiting just inside and when she saw us she almost ran and hugged me.
Daphne appeared from inside Simon’s room, although she smiled at us I could
tell she was more excited to see the medicine. Then Nicole saw Daniel close the
door and stare at her with sad eyes. She looked at me, distressed, ‘what
happened,’ she asked

‘I could ask you the same thing,’ I replied, nodding towards
the bullet hole in the floor. Then I heard a voice from behind me, ‘sorry, that
was my fault.’